American Handgunner Jan/Feb 2013 Digital Edition

theinsider Continued from page 106 here, I find myself just about always within reach of one kind of gun. While it’s not perfect, it does many things pretty darn good and is lightweight, very accurate, easy to feed and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. And the winner is? The not-so-lowly .22 rifle. I keep one in a rack on our E-Z-Go chore vehicle (photo) and another strapped in a rack on the ATV. Another’s in my pick-up, and there’s one at the garage door, one downstairs in my office and one in the shop — all with empty chambers and loaded magazines. All are semi-autos, all are magazine-fed and all are either beaters I picked up at Brandon’s gun store, or inexpensive plinkers bought at retail at Wal-Mart or Academy. While tube feeds work fine, they’re a pain if you chamber a round. To get an empty chamber again, you have ADD IT UP Concealedcarrypermitscurrentlyissued. 8 Million 2012 lowestrateofviolentcrimein40years. to pull the follower, dump the rounds out of the tube, run the bolt to eject the chambered round and any others stuck, double check the chamber, drop the striker, load the tube and reinsert the follower again. A pain. With a magazine, you drop the mag, eject the chambered round, reload it into the mag, and snick the mag back into the gun. Simple. In a pinch, an accurate .22 rifle can manage a coyote (or at least drive him off), can handle a feral dog, raccoon, ground-hog, field rat, pesky squirrel and can even be used for self-defense in a pinch. All of the ones I’ve scrounged or bought shoot under an inch at 25 yards, which is farther than we usually shoot them, and are easier to shoot accurately than any handgun. We still keep “real” guns handy, but about 95 percent of the time problems get solved with a .22 rifle. I recently heard a “bap” from the living room door where it opens onto the deck. When I walked in, Suzi was just topping off the .22’s mag. “That damn squirrel that’s been tearing the bird feeder apart? Not anymore.” There you go. While it makes perfect sense to have a good shotgun (a .410 is my second most-used gun), center-fire rifle and a cross-section of handguns to meet your needs, make sure you have a .22 semiauto rifle close at-hand. After all, the “girls” may need defending. “Bwocckkkk …” Hyskore rack c alled the “Gun & Gear Rack” — that’s exactly what it is. Ted Werner, honcho at Hyskore, designs everything himself, and as a life-long shooter, he has a rare sense of the needs of his customers. Made of welded, powder-coated steel with two shelves and foam padded rifle rests, it holds about 30 pounds, only needs 16.5" of space and costs around $25! On a recent visit to my home, Ted brought one for me to see and I promptly mounted it in my downstairs office. Ta-Da! Suddenly those rifles leaning in the corner were orderly, and their ammo nicely at-hand. I’ll bet you can see a use for one of these, eh? Get ‘em at Cabelas, Cheaper Than Dirt or Midway if you want one. Simple is always best, and when it’s affordable too, it’s about perfect. News Or8.9%ofUSpopulationuseillicitdrugs. 23.6 Million MesserschmittBf-109fighters producedduringWWII. 30,480 10,449 15,875 TEXAS PASSES NEW LEgISLATION ALLOWINg HuNTINg WITH SuPPRESSORS, JOININg ARIzONA ANd OKLAHOMA. CIvILIzATION COMES TO THE HuNTINg FIELd! his is a two-fer from Brite-Strike. They make solid hand-held lights, but T they also make nifty little lights called APALS (All Purpose Adhesive Light Strips). The Model BD-198-MH hand-held combat light pictured, delivers 2.5 hours of 210-lumen, Cree LED light, which puts it right in the ballpark for a personal-defensive light. Note the blue end-cap, proof you’re getting Brite-Strike workmanship. But the APALS are simply marvelous in their own right. A “10-pack” in each box, each APALS LED is shockproof, waterproof, runs up to 40 hours, can be seen up to1/4 mile, can fast strobe, slow strobe or steady-on and has a peel-off/stick-on feature. From marking camps, finding your way back, identifying good guys, finding your downed game or a zillion other uses, these little buggers really rock. www. americanhandgunner. com/brite-strike or (508) 746-8701 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JANUARY/FEBRUARY2013 Brite-Strike MitsubishiA6MZeros producedduringWWII. p-51MustangsproducedduringWWII. Costofp-51inWWIIdollars. $51,572 Costofp-51intoday’sdollars. 104 $668,771